February_2022 - 22

Regional Transit Service
RTS' SYSTEM map
includes 10 new
frequent bus
routes and 20
local bus routes,
with three new
crosstown
connections.
" We were
trying to redesign
the system,
so there was a
need to listen, to
make the system
as effective as
possible. "
-BILL CARPENTER,
CEO, RTS
principles well and consistently
referenced them when designing
the system and when stakeholders
would request certain things
be included in the plan.
Regardless of the stakeholder,
RTS would consult with its planning
department to see how that
request would fit into its guiding
principles and if " I can put that
request in, " Carpenter said.
Building Goodwill to
Gather Public Input
After RTS formed its project goals,
it was time to start collecting information
and analyzing data.
" One of the first things that we
did when we started the process
was we created two kinds of committees, "
said Tom Brede, public
information officer, RTS.
One committee included internal
employees with a focus
on frontline personnel, such as
bus operators, customer service
representatives and road supervisors.
The second was a community
advisory committee and
included stakeholders such as the
22 | Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | FEBRUARY 2022
chamber of commerce, disability
organizations, healthcare centers
and colleges and universities, to
name a few. RTS met with each
committee once a month to recap
what had been done, what feedback
the agency received and what
was going to happen next.
In addition to creating committees,
RTS hosted community
meetings and used that collateral
to develop meetings in a box, so
other community groups could
take ownership and host their
own meetings to gather initial
feedback on how they thought
the system was working. Other
outreach included directly going
to riders at the transit center, on
buses, at bus stops, at malls and
heavily trafficked areas.
" Our own employees, as well as
several community stakeholders,
said, 'Okay, I'll come, but is this
just going to be a waste of my time
[and] check a box for you?' " Carpenter
explained. " We had to really
prove that we were listening. "
The agency worked to build
credibility by sharing as much
information as it could, so the
public could make informed
decisions. If someone suggested
something that didn't work, RTS
walked them through why it
wasn't feasible by sharing data and
referencing its guiding principles.
For example, the agency had to
educate the public about working
with constrained resources, such
as the tradeoff of frequency versus
coverage. Because of this, RTS had
a clearer picture of what the public
wanted, and they were able to
work together to find a solution.
" They will listen, they will understand
the problem and they'll
do everything they can to help us
with the problem. That was not
there the first few meetings that
we had, " Carpenter said. " The
first meetings were, okay, well you
do your public outreach and then
you go do what you want to do.
Because before that, we weren't
trying to change the system.
Here, we were trying to redesign
the system, so there was a need
to listen, to make the system as
effective as possible. "
http://www.MassTransitmag.com
February_2022

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